Sevilla will be travelling to Germany to face VFL Wolfsburg at the Volkswagen Arena for Matchday 2 of the 20212/22 UEFA Champions League season. Both teams had a similar start in their respective opening games for Group G, as Sevilla were held down to a 1-1 draw at home by the travelling RB Salzburg. Die Wolfe, on the other hand, went to France to earn a goalless draw against the defending French Ligue 1 champions Lille. All four teams in the group have started with a point each, as this group is expected to be the most unpredictable this season.
Julen Lopetegui’s Sevilla side have had a great start to their domestic league campaign, as they are currently unbeaten in the Spanish La Liga after six games, winning four and drawing the other two. They are currently third in the standings and have scored 10 goals in six games to earn a total of 14 points. Their defence has been the key as they have conceded only two goals in the league this season. The start to the UCL campaign began with a draw, but Lopetyegui will hope his team takes their league form into Europe as well.
Mark van Bommel has seen his Wolfsburg team do well in the first few weeks in the Bundesliga, as they are also in a similar position in the domestic league to Sevilla, at third with 13 points from the first six games. They only lost their first game of the season on the weekend to Hoffenheim and will hope to turn things around in the Champions League after a goalless draw to start their UCL campaign.
The above viz shows the shots taken by various teams on Matchday 1 of the UCL group stage. Sevilla were able to take a total of 11 shots in that game but were unable to find the target with most of them. The problem they faced is that they allowed Salzburg to take 14 shots in the game, out of which seven were on target.
In the other game between Lille and Wolfsburg, the visitors were only allowed to take two shots on goal in the entire match without hitting the target. Lille on the other hand, took a total of 15 shots on goal, with four on target. Wolfsburg were lucky not to conceded and lose that game and will be hoping to improve on their performances in the upcoming weeks.
The above viz is the shot map of Sevilla against Salzburg in their opening Group G game. It can be noticed that Sevilla took a total of 11 shots in the game, but hit the target only for the goal they scored in the 1-1 draw. They took most of their shots from inside the penalty area and will hope to create more opportunities when they travel to Germany.
VFL Wolfsburg only took a total of two shots in their match against Lille, both from outside the box, without hitting the target. It was a poor attacking performance from them, but were solid at the back and were able to keep a clean sheet.
The passing zones shown in the above viz are of Sevilla in their match against RB Salzburg. they had a total of 50% possession in the match, with most of their passes completed in the central defensive areas, and on both the attacking wings. They put in a large number of crosses in the match, with Alejandro Gomez putting in six passes into the opposition box. They pose a lot of danger from their full-backs, as Jesus Navas put in a total of six crosses from right-back, while Marcos Acuna put in five crosses from left-back.
Wolfsburg had a poor game going forward against Liller but had 48% possession in the match and a decent number of passes to show for it. They completed most of their passes in central defence and the right side of midfield. Ridle Baku was the most impressive player going forward as he put in four passes into the opposition box.
Group G is termed to be one of the most unpredictable groups in this seasons Champions League, as any of the four teams can go through to the next round. With two draws in the first two games of the group, both Sevilla and Wolfsburg will want to win this game and claim one of the two qualifying spots of the group.
